Persona: Resolution
by Bhanu JH
Summary: P3XP4, takes place seven years after P3. He who destined to accomplish the unaccomplished, a mystery imposed upon him. Will he be able to fulfill the unfulfilled and bring the Ultimate Peace? Or will he fails and bring the Ultimate Demise? Read & Review.
1. Prologue

Persona: Resolution

Disclaimer: I never own Persona (3 or 4)

Chapter 1: Prologue

A man sat leisurely on a bench in a park at Pot Island Station, he enjoyed the beautiful view of the sunset before his thought flying back at his work, he was depressed with his never ending job as a detective. He looked at the reddened sky above, he tried to forget his entire problem and enjoyed the peaceful moment, his eyelids became heavier and he couldn't help but to close it. The wind blew his black hair gently, he felt that all his problem had been blown away along with the wind. Before suddenly a woman voice broke the peaceful moment.

"Hey, Shinji, wake up!!" a brunette woman in pink clothes with a heart choker, yelled to the man.

"_Groan_…Why you always bother me when I come to enjoy this peaceful evening…" said the man as he stretched his arms.

"You're the one who promised me to accompany me today…"

"_Sigh_…As you wish, Yukari…" said the man as he lifted his body from the bench lazily and act like a butler, "Well, where should we go, my lady?"

"C'mon…just act normally, okay" said the brunette woman in pink jacket.

"Okay, let's get this over with before I get another call…" said the man as he stuffed his hand on the pocket of his black, long trouser.

"Let's start! It's shopping time!" the brunette woman yelled in excitement.

"But remember, don't buy too many things…" advised the black-haired man.

"Why not? You're the one who volunteered, so don't object, okay,"

The two of them started their shopping spree, starting from clothes, shoes, accessories, etc. They bought many things on their way, and ended up as a pain in the neck for the companion who brought all the goodies. Finally they were taking a break on Chagall Cafe on Paulownia Mall, and had a cup of the famous pheromone coffee.

"_Sigh_…Finally, a moment to relax…"

"Well, that was fun…we should do it again next time!"

"Hell no…you ended up buying a lot of thing, and forced me to carry all the bags…" said the man as he slumped his head to the chair, and he looked at the shopping bags right beside their chairs. The other customers and the attendants were looking at them, baffled.

"Tehee…I'm sorry…"

"Whatever…just why you bought some clothes that seems too small for you…" asked the black-haired man as he raised his head from the table.

"You still remember Aigis, right? I bought it for her,"

"Oh, so it's for Aigis-san. You seem to care for her a lot,"

"She's like my sister. Since I don't have a sister, maybe I spoiled her too much…" Yukari's facial expression became somewhat melancholic.

"And the rest…?"

"It's for Fuuka and Mitsuru-senpai of course!"

"_Sigh_…but next time, just don't buy too many things, it's the third time already…"

"Okay!"

"By the way, how's Hamuko-san doing?" asked the man.

"She's doing fine, but she's rather gloomy..."

"Well, after all...It's almost that day..." the man's expression became somewhat melancholic.

"Yeah, the day when HE left us..."

Pipipi…pipipi…

Suddenly the man's cell rang and broke the sad moment, he took his cell from his trouser pocket, "This is Yamamoto…Oh, Akihiko-senpai, what's up?…Okay, be right there," the man hung his cell.

"Is that from Akihiko-senpai?" asked the brunette woman.

"Yeah, there have been another case on the Apathy Syndrome lately, it's suddenly appeared out of nowhere after seven years," explained the man.

"Well, it's your call…"

"Are you going to be fine by yourself...?"

"I'll be just fine…"

"What about those bags?" asked the man, as he gestured to the shopping bags.

"I'll work on it somehow, just go. Akihiko-senpai doesn't like to wait, you know that…"

"If you say so…" the man shrugged, "Well then, take care…" the black-haired man with black jacket walked away and left the cafe.

Yukari was left alone on her seat, she stared at her shopping bags and sighed, "Even though I said that I'll work on it, but I cannot handle this much. Maybe this is why he warned me not to buy too much…" the brunette let out another sigh.

A figure appeared behind her, it was a woman with red hair who wore long-sleeved white clothes, with brown trouser and high-heeled boots, "Looks like you need some help, Yukari…"

Yukari turned her head and found a familiar person, "Mitsuru-senpai!"

_~Resolve~_

A white-haired man waited in front of the police station, he tapped his feet, and looked at his wristwatch once in a few time, his facial expression grew impatient. Beside him a slender young man accompanied him, wearing an officer hat.

"Where's Shinji when we need him…" the man groaned and tapped his feet.

"Just be patient, Sanada-san. He will be right here sometime soon…"

As the slender young man spoke, the man in question showed up, he was rushing towards them, and stopped right in front of them. He panted heavily and tried to catch his breath, there was some beads of sweat on his face.

"Sorry, I'm late…" the man apologized as he wiped the sweat on his forehead

"Just where the hell are you when I called?" asked the white-haired man with a slight angry voice.

"I'm accompanying Yukari on her shopping spree, and ended up carrying her shopping bags,"

"_Sigh_…She's at it again. Well, it's your fault to volunteer on that,"

"So, what's up now? Are there any new victim regarding the case?"

"There's another victim and he's currently at the hospital, we'll go there to investigate, and Shirogane is here to help us," Akihiko gestured to a man, or a woman, who appears to wear an officer hat.

"Well, I'm just volunteered on the case, it seems that this case is quite interesting to be solved,"

"And it looks like this has become your hobby as well as your profession,"

"Yes, I won't deny that this has become a hobby of mine…"

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you again Shirogane, it's been a while,"

"Nice to meet you too, and please just call me by my first name, Yamamoto-san,"

"The same goes for you…"

"Have you done with the chit-chat? We got a victim to pay a visit to,"

"Being impatient is bad for your health, Akihiko-senpai," the black-haired advised

_~Resolve~_

After arrived at the hospital, two of them met someone familiar, a female doctor with green hair, waiting in front of the hospital, and she flashed a gentle smile before she greeted them.

"Good evening, Akihiko-senpai, Shinji-san..."

"Good evening, Fuuka..." the black-haired man greeted the green-haired woman back.

"Fuuka, is he still here?" asked Akihiko.

"Yes, follow me..."

The three officers followed the young doctor to a ward, there they found a man slept on the bed. Beside him a device indicated that his heartbeat ran slowly, he was in a comatose state, like the rest of the other previous victim who suffered the same symptoms.

"_Sigh_...Another comatose victim..." the black-haired man scratched his hair.

"Fuuka, you told me that this one is different..."

"Yes, this one was conscious before we took him to the hospital, and he mumbled about, 'that'..."

"We still don't know anything about it, it's better not to jump on conclusion yet, but there's a possibility since the Apathy Syndrome showed up recently after seven years, it's better to contact Mitsuru, just in case..." Akihiko picked his cell and dialed a number.

While Akihiko and Fuuka discussed the matter, Shinji wandered near the unconscious man, he observed the man closely before his attention distracted by a black substance near the patient, he took out a rubber glove and a plastic bag that was usually used to contain evidence from his jacket. He thought that the substance was some kind of liquid and slightly surprised when he found out that the substance was actually solid, like a gelatin.

"Shinji-san, did you find something?"

"Yeah, I found this near him" the black-haired man showed Naoto the plastic bag contained the substance.

"Is that some kind of liquid?" Naoto said as she examined it curiously.

"Well, it's actually pretty much solid, like a gelatin,"

Akihiko looked at his junior and surprised, then he took the plastic bag, which contained the substance and examined it.

"Akihiko-senpai, that's...!" Fuuka gasped, as she seemed familiar with the substance

"Yes, it seems that Shinji had found some major evidence,"

"Is that something important...?" Shinji tilted his head.

"Yeah, you two, keep it secret until I confirmed this substance..."

"If you say so..." Shinji shrugged.

"Well, it seems that this is out of our hand..." Naoto nodded in agreement.

"Let us call it a day, excuse us Fuuka, and thanks for the report..."

"You're welcome..."

_~Resolve~_

After a long and tiring day Shinji finally back to his house, a traditional Japanese house, his house is quiet as usual, his father was busy with the case he's now holding and is currently at London, England, where he became the head officer of a detective agency there. As for his mother, she's away because of her job as a woman activist and is currently somewhere in South-East Asia. He lived with his grandfather and a maid on the house.

"I'm home..." said Shinji as he took of his shoe, and found a woman with a dark-blue, long hair, in purple kimono bowed.

"Welcome home, Shinji-sama, would you like to bath? I'll prepare the hot water,"

"Yes, please do..."

Then the maid excused herself, Shinji walked toward the living room only to find his grandfather, a man in a dark-blue kimono with a grayish hair, sat in seiza position and sipped tea from his traditional Japanese cup. Shinji sat and slumped his head on the table and turned on the TV.

"Sitting like that will make your back ache when you grow old," advised the elderly man with a sagely voice, starting the conversation.

"_Sigh_...I know," the black-haired man raised his head and rested it on his right hand.

"You seemed tired lately, is there something happened during your days...?"

"Nothing, it's just something that I've been thinking lately..."

"Don't push yourself too hard. I know how depressed a detective can be..."

"Yeah, I know it, since you were a detective yourself during that glory days of yours..."

Suddenly the maid opened the sliding door.

"Shinji-sama, the hot water is ready," the maid sat on seiza in front of the door.

"Thanks, Rie-san..." said the man as he stood up and left the room.

"Reiji-sama, is there something happened to Shinji-sama?" asked the maid.

"_Chuckle_...It seems that cared about my grandson a lot..."

"N-no, i-its just that Shinji-sama have been a little depressed lately..." the maid's face is slightly reddened and she looked to another direction to hid her blush.

"Hahaha...Don't worry, he's thinking too much about his job lately. Perhaps, you could help me to lighten his burden?"

"Yes, I will do my best to help Shinji-sama in any way I could!" answered the maid confidently, oblivious of her master plan.

"Well then, do as I instructed..."

Meanwhile, Shinji who enjoyed the hot water, was oblivious about his grandfather's plans for him. He kept thinking about his close friend who had passed away, and then he sighed. He enjoyed his peaceful bath, washed away his tiredness, before suddenly a woman entered the bathroom with only a towel covered her body, it was Rie, the maid. Shinji was startled seeing the maid.

"W-what are you doing!? You know I'm taking a bath right now, why you entered without checking first!?" said the black-haired man as he took a towel to cover the lower part of his body.

"W-well, Reiji-sama ask me to do this, t-to cheer you up..."

'That old geezer, he's always doing this to entertain himself! Dammit! I'll never forgive him!! I'll kill him!!!' Shinji frowned and clenched his fist.

"This is my first time, so please be gentle..." the maid walked closer, as she tried to remove the towel that covered her body.

"W-wait! What're you doing! D-don't—"

Reiji Yamamoto, sat on the living room, waiting for his grandson leisurely, he sipped his tea from the traditional Japanese cup. Before sounds of running footsteps could be heard from the outside, followed by shouting, then Shinji barged into the room, he wore long-sleeved white clothes with a brown long trouser.

"You old geezer!! Why you always make fun of me!!!" as the black-haired pointed his finger to the elderly man accusingly.

"Chuckle...You seemed depressed, so I thought that Rie-chan would ease your burden. So, how was it?"

"Not in a thousand years! I'm not a pervert like you!!"

"Fuhahaha...It seems that you have regained your usual self"

"Argh!! You should apologize to her because of your indecent plans,"

"Well, she had agreed before. So, it's not entirely my fault..." the elderly man spoke with an innocent voice.

"Groan...Fine..."

Shinji could only grumped, seeing his indecent grandfather makes fun of their innocent maid. Shinji slammed the door and walked towards Rie's room. He stood in front of Rie's room and scratched his head as he tried to find the right words, he ruffled his front hair that covered his forehead. Before suddenly, the door in front of him was opened by the maid who now wear a white kimono.

"Rie, are you okay?" asked the black-haired man as he lowered his gaze.

"Umm...I'm okay..." the maid answered sheepishly, a faint blush could be seen from her beautiful face.

"I'm sorry..." Shinji bowed to the maid.

"No, I'm the one who should apologized..." the dark-blue haired maid bowed, "Please, forgive me for my indecent behavior..."

"But, you're the victim here..."

"Yes, and that is my fault, Shinji-sama..."

"But promise me something..." Shinji's grayish eyes fixated to the maid black eyes.

"W-what is it, if I may know, Shinji-sama..." asked the maid as she tried to look at the other direction, her cheek was reddened further.

Shinji quickly wrapped his arms to Rie, the maid startled by the young master's sudden act. Her face was reddened, she did harbors some feeling to the young master, but she never expected something like this from him.

"S-Shinji-sama, what are you doing...?"

"Thank you, for your concern. And this is my 'gift' for you..." the black-haired man spoke gently to Rie, as he tightened his hug.

Rie couldn't say anything, she could only felt the warm brace of her young master, and then she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms, she enjoyed the peaceful moment to the fullest.

"Rie, from now on I want you to do something for me..."

"Yes?"

"I want you to call me with Shinji-kun, instead of Shinji-sama...Would it be okay?" asked the black-haired man.

"Your wish is my command, Shinji-kun..."

"Umm...Rie, could we stop now...?"

"Oh! I'm sorry Shinji-kun..." the maid startled and giggled a little.

"Well, then...Good night, Rie,"

"Good night,"

~Resolve~

Thanks for DemonRaily for pointing out something from my fic, and thus I decided to remove it and start something new, please enjoy. And please drop some review if you could. And if there's some error on my grammar, please let me know.

Bhanu JH


	2. Returning Memories

Persona: Resolution

Disclaimer: I never own Persona (3 or 4)

Chapter 2: Returning Memories

After saying good night to his maid, the black-haired man walked to his room. He was lost in his own thought; it's true that he was thinking too much lately, he kept thinking about someone, his best friend who had passed away mysteriously. His mind flashed back to the day when he was graduated seven years ago, the day when he was still attending school at Gekkoukan High School.

_5__th__ March 2010_.... Kirijo Mitsuru, the student council president and the successor of the Kirijo Corp. had a speech in front of everyone; the speech went smoothly before it came to the previous patriarch death, Kirijo Takeharu. Mitsuru stopped her speech, and a few students stood up from their seat, they were Takeba Yukari, Iori Junpei, Yamagishi Fuuka, Sanada Akihiko, and Arisato Hamuko. They gathered before they ran out to the exit. It had caused ruckus among the students and teachers, some of them confused, some of them upset and the other don't really know what's happening. In the midst of that he tried to find someone, his best friend, but he didn't find him anywhere, a navy-haired boy with blue earphones.

After the chaos on the atrium had ceased, Shinji tried to follow the group that had left earlier, he looked for them everywhere. He took the stairs to the rooftop and found the group, along with a bluenette boy who slept on a blonde girls lap. They tried to wake the sleeping bluenette, but he didn't seem to move, they began to suspect that something's wrong with him, so they called the ambulance. All of his friends including Shinji grew impatience for the bluenette conditions, as they waited outside the ward, finally the doctor came out. All of them prompted the doctor to tell them about the buenette conditions, but the doctor shook his head, indicating something that they didn't expect.

"Arisato Minato had deceased due to unknown disease..."

Those words still echoed in his head, remembering him, Arisato Minato, was too painful. He could still remember the promise that he made to the bluenette before his demise. Shinji's mind was rotated back, to the time that they spent together, sat on a bench that faced to the sea at Port Island Station; they usually sat there together to enjoy the sunset.

"Hey, Shinji, could I ask you something...?" asked the bluenette in Gekkoukan High uniform.

"What's up, Minato? You seems different today, you look more serious than usual," a black, seemingly spiky haired boy with the same outfit asked back to his navy-haired friend.

"Well, probably because of my cool face," said the bluenette as he smiled coolly.

"Show off..." said the black-haired man as he had another bite on the sandwich in his hand.

"Okay, don't get mad...I'm just kidding..."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway what're you going to ask me?"

"If something terrible happens to me, could you please take care of my sister, Hamuko...?" the bluenette expression became bitter.

The black-haired boy stopped eating his sandwich, "Huh? Why did you ask me something like that out of the ordinary...? If you're trying to joke, it's not funny you know..."

"No, it's not a joke, I'm really asking you, would you promise...?"

"_Sigh_...Fine, I promised. But why did you make me promise something like that? It's like your last will or something..."

"I think you're the right person for that..." the bluenette muttered.

"Run that by me again?" the black-haired boy tilted his head.

"Nothing...Just promise me that you will take a good care of her, or else, you'll pay the consequences" said the bluenette as patted the black-haired boy's shoulder.

"Okay then, it's a promise," said the black-haired boy as he smiled and raised his thumb up towards the bluenette.

Shinji stopped right in front of his room, and stared at his hand and clenched it into a fist firmly. He remembered his promise to his deceased best friend, then he let out a sigh as he entered his room, he slumped himself on the futon. He looked at the ceiling of his dark room, his eyelids became heavier and heavier, before finally he closed his eyes. He tried to sweep away that disturbing thought of his, before suddenly he woke up in his dream, standing on a road, he could only see thick fog from his surroundings.

'_This is great...Just great...What a weird dream I have now...'_

_~Resolution~_

Meanwhile in room like an advanced lab, there were many complicated device on the room, a white-haired man who wore light-brown coat and a trouser with the same color, stood beside a red-haired woman with a long-sleeved white clothes, brown trouser and high-heeled boots. They were examining a black substance on a large tube-like device, accompanied by several scientists.

"Isamu, Is it confirmed?" asked the red-haired woman to the one of the scientist.

"Yes, Kirijo-sama, it matches all the characteristics..." answered one of the scientist.

"So, they're finally back, huh...?" asked the white-haired man.

"It does seem like it, we better contact the other member about this matter...."

"After seven years, the 'seal' is finally going to be broke..." the man crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

The red-haired woman closed her eyes before reopening them, and showed a pair of determined eyes, "It seems that SEES will emerge once again...."

_~Resolution~_

A man with black, seemingly spiky hair, walked on a foggy road. He kept wondering, what kind of dream he had now, how long was this road, what lies at the end of this road, and why the hell did he end up in such a weird dream. He kept walking before suddenly he bumped into something, or someone to be precise.

"Aww!!!" a black-haired woman in black lolita dress with a red butterfly hairpin on her head, fell on the concrete pavement.

"Ah! Sorry, I can't see clearly because of the fog..." Shinji offered his hand to the downed woman.

"It's okay, it's also my fault to stop in the middle of the road..." said the woman as she stood up with Shinji's help and dusted her dress.

"My name's Shinji, Yamamoto Shinji. May I know your name?" asked the black-haired man.

"I'm Metis," she looked at Shinji and revealed a pair of crimson eyes.

_'Those eyes...it's kinda cold, yet warm. What a strange feeling that glows from those eyes...'_ the black haired man stared at the woman's eyes.

"Is something on my face...?"

"N-no, It's nothing..." said the black haired man as he looked to another direction.

"I was surprised there's someone other than me wandering in this place..." said the woman with a smile.

"So, do you know something about this place...?"

"Actually, I know nothing about this place either, but I've been wandering for quite a long time..." said the woman as she observed her surrounding.

"Sigh...I thought you know something about this strange place...."

"At least we can search for the exit of this place together..." said the woman as she gave another smile.

"You don't seem to be hostile towards someone you just met, even in a place like this..."

"Well, I could sense something from inside you, I could feel that you're not a bad person. And it's better than wandering alone, the more the merrier..." the black haired woman spoke with a cheerful tone.

"You're quite cheerful for this kind of situation, huh...?"

"I had experienced something worse than this..."

"Well, whatever..."

In the midst of their conversation, a soft sound of vehicle could be heard. The two of them tried to find the source of the sound; suddenly they could see a pair of glowing light from afar. Slowly the sound getting closer and a faint image of a blue limousine could be seen, the vehicle stopped on the other side of the road, and the door opened slowly.

"Please come in...." a woman's voice came from inside the limousine.

"Okay, let's go inside," without a second thought, the black-haired woman dragged Shinji, before he froze in his track, "Come on, what are you waiting for..." as she tried to drag the black-haired man further.

"Wait, it's looks suspicious for some reason..." the black haired man seemed hesitant.

"Well, it's better than walking..."

"You're really a simple minded girl, aren't you?"

"Just believe me, okay. I've got a good knack for this stuff..."

The black-haired man let out a defeated sigh as he looked at the woman's crimson eyes, her confident overflow from her glowing eyes. He gave it a thought before he finally nodded in agreement. They entered the limousine; there they found a bizarre-looking, long-nosed man with salient eye, sat on a couch and there was a round table in front of him. Beside him, there was a woman with long, blonde hair in a uniform with the same color as the room, velvet blue.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room...." greeted the long-nosed man.

"It's been years since we had a guest with an intriguing destiny..."

"My name is Igor...I am delighted to make your acquaintance..." the man introduced himself.

"This place exist between dream and reality, mind and matter...it is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter...It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future..." explained the man with salient eye further.

"Would you mind to tell us your name...?"

"My name's Shinji, Yamamoto Shinji...and this is Metis," introduced the black-haired man as he gestured to the black-haired woman who sat next to him.

"Oh, my. It seems that you have brought someone with you...it's have been years since we last met, young lady," said the long-nosed man as he turned his attention to the woman.

"It's nice to meet you again, Igor..." replied the woman.

"So, you knew him!?" the black-haired man surprised by the fact that the woman had already knew Igor.

"Yeah, something like that..."

"So, tell me. Why I'm summoned into this place? Am I bound by some sort of contract?" asked the black-haired man to Igor.

"Dear, young man. You have come here with your own free will; you are not bound by any 'contract'... It seems that your sub consciousness yearns for the truth, and thus...lead you into this place..."

"Am I some kind of uninvited guest...?"

"That is correct, and it seems you hold an interesting power within you...very interesting..." said the man as he chuckled.

"And what about her...?" asked the man as he gestured to the woman next to him.

"She is rather unique... Her existence is between dream and reality, and thus she wandered aimlessly..." mused the long-nosed man

"Pardon...?"

"It seems that such a fate awaits you in the near future. You will, and inevitably, take a journey...our duty is to aid you, my guest, to prevent the worst from happening on your journey..."

"Near future? Journey...?" asked the black haired man as he became confused further.

"In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will be summoned here once again..."

"Contract? I don't get this at all..."

"The time will come when all shall be unveiled..." Igor spoke with a smug grin.

The black-haired man could only tilt his head, hearing the thing he couldn't seem to understand.

"Shall we look into your future...?" the long nosed man put his hand and tarot cards appeared on the table in front of him.

"Do you believe in fortune telling...?"

"Actually, no...." answered the man flatly.

"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different...life also follows the same principles does it not...Chuckle" then he swayed his hand and the tarot cards spreaded.

Then he swayed his hand and one of the cards opened, "Hmm...The Tower, with the upright position, this card represent the immediate future, it seems that a terrible catastrophe is imminent...And the future beyond that is..." Igor gave another sway.

"Ah...The Moon, with the upright position, this card represent 'uncertainty' and 'mysteries', it seems that you will encounter a misfortune and a great mystery will be imposed upon you..._Chuckle_...very interesting..." Igor swayed his hand, but nothing happened.

"Hmm....?" Igor seemed surprised.

The table in front of him began to tremble, the opened cards from before closed themselves, the trembling become stronger and affected the whole room, one by one the cards opened, each one revealed an arcana. The cards were shining brightly and started to float in the air, they start rotating and fused together, as the card fused, the light became brighter and started to fade little by little, a single shining card-like object float in the air, and landed in the middle of the table.

"Oh, my...It seems that our current guest has an unpredictable destiny...very interesting..."

"What was that just now...!?" asked the black-haired man as he regained his composure.

"In fact, this phenomenon never happened before, even I, do not know what was exactly happened...It seems that you have the strength to change other's destiny..." explained the long-nosed man.

"Change other's destiny? This is getting confusing..."

"You may as well, hold onto this card..." Igor swayed his hand, the card on the table disappeared and reappeared in front of Shinji, floating.

"This card...It's empty...What's the meaning of this card...?" asked the black haired man as he examined the card, it has neither picture nor number on it.

"It is for you my boy, to find it out yourself..." explained the long-nosed man with an enigmatic voice.

"Wow! I don't know you have such an amazing power within yourself, just like my sister," the black-haired woman, Metis, who was in silence before, squealed and stared at Shinji with admiration and respect, her eyes were shining.

"Please stop staring at me like that...it's rather uncomfortable..." said the black-haired man to Metis as he inserted the card in to his pocket.

"Oh...you don't need to be shy..." said the woman as she giggled.

"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you," interjected Igor, " This is Margaret, she is the resident of the Velvet Room, just like me," introduced the long-nosed man as he gestured to the blonde woman in blue uniform beside him.

"My name is Margaret, I will accompany you through your journey..." greeted the blonde woman.

"We shall attend the details for later, and we will take care of your companion. Until then, farewell..."

Suddenly Shinji's vision blurred and a dazzling light began to cover his sight.

"Wha--Hey wait...!"

~Resolution~

The alarm clock rang loudly, Shinji woke up due to the loud noise, and he stood up and turned the alarm off. He opened the door of his room and inhaled morning fresh air, he tried to recall his dream, only to make him more depressed. He shook his head, and tried to forget that dream.

"It feels so realistic..." the black-haired man muttered and ruffled his seemingly spiky hair.

He decide to wash his face and brush his teeth, after that he walked into his room; he glanced at his cell phone to check the date, "5th March, the day is tomorrow...HIS death anniversary..." muttered the black-haired man as his expressions became bitter.

"Sigh...Better get ready..."

He changed his outfit, and prepared to visit an old friend, he changed into different attire this day; he preferred dark color than any other color, but today he wore light-brown coat with fur on the collar and a trouser with matching color and a dark-blue turtleneck under his coat. He combed his hair, rather than maintaining it's spiky shape, his hair covered half of his forehead and almost covered one of his eyes, but the backside of his head still retain some of its spiky shape, it can't be helped, it's on his gene that he inherited from his father.

"Kinda remind me of someone..." muttered the black haired man as he looked at himself through a mirror.

Suddenly a whispery voice echoed in his head, he clutched his head with one of his hand as dizziness came into his head, he groaned in pain, as the dizziness got stronger. A faint image of a tower flashed in his vision, followed by a vision of a green full moon behind the tower, and a voice echoed clearly in his mind.

'**I am thou...'**

'**Thou art I...'**

'**Now, open thy eyes...'**

'**And call what's within...'**

He slumped in front of the mirror, Rie, the maid, who had passed in front of the room, rushed towards the young master, who seemed in a lot of pain.

"Shinji-sama, are you alright!?" asked the maid worriedly.

Suddenly the pain on his head gone for some reason after the maid arrived, "N-no, I'm okay..." said the black haired man as he stood up.

"You looked tired recently, please take care of your health..." said the maid, still worried about her master condition.

"It' okay, I'm totally fine..." said the black-haired man as he smiled to the maid with a convincing and reassuring smile, "I'm sorry to make you worried about me, Rie..."

"It's my duty to take care of you..." the maid spoke as she flashed a dazzling smile.

"Thank you..." thanked the young master.

"You're welcome, Shinji-sama..."

"Hey, Rie, didn't I tell you to address my name with '–kun', instead of '-sama' last night...?" asked the black haired man.

The maid startled and blushed, "I'm sorry, I can't afford to do that Shinji-sama..."

"But, didn't you address my name with '-kun' last night...?" asked the young master further, as he recalled last night event.

"I-I..." the maid flustered as she remembered the embarrassing moment, well, from her side of view, and lost her words.

Seeing his maid getting nervous, Shinji held the woman's shoulders with his hands, the maid startled a bit because of the sudden actions, "Well then, just call me whatever you're comfortably with..." said the man gently as he stared to the woman's dark eyes, and her face reddened further.

"..." the maid was silent for sometime before she finally back from her spaced state, "Umm...t-the breakfast is ready, please e-excuse me, I have some errands to do..." said the maid as she fled outside, still with her reddened face.

"Hmm....Did I do something wrong...?" mused Shinji, oblivious of her maid's notable feeling towards him.

~Resolution~

After having a breakfast, Shinji walked toward the entrance of his house, and proceed to walk to the gate, and then he slides the wooden door of the gate, and in front of him a woman with red hair tied up in a bun, about to rang the door bell, in her hand there was a bouquet of white flowers.

"Oh! Hey there, Hamuko-san, good morning..." greeted the black-haired man, slightly surprised.

"Good morning, Shinji-san..." greeted the woman back.

"So, what brings you here?" asked the black-haired man.

"Umm, Shinji-san, could you please accompany me somewhere?" the red haired woman asked hesitantly.

"Where to...?"

"To the cemetery..." answered the woman with a bitter expression.

"What a coincidence, I'm planning to pay a visit to the cemetery too..."

"Okay then, let's go!" the woman dragged Shinji's hand, her facial expressions changed drastically.

'Sigh...Why I'm always dragged around...'

They walked together to the cemetery, they chatted on the way, and the red-haired woman noticed the black-haired man unusual appearance, in which he wore different attire and a different hairstyle.

"Hey, Shinji-san, you look different today..." said the red haired woman as she observed the man's appearance.

"Oh! So, you noticed. Well, I kinda want to wear something different today..."

"Is it because of my brother...?"

"Yeah, something like that..."

"_Giggle_...You look better in bright colored clothes rather than the dark one, and that hairstyle fit you as well, you know," commented Hamuko with a cheerful smile.

"Yeah, thank you, your brother said the same thing too..." said the black haired man as he smiled sadly.

"Tomorrow's the day. Shinji-san, will everyone come to my brother's grave tomorrow...?" asked the red haired woman as she lowered her gaze to the road.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that..."

Hearing the man's answer, the red haired woman could only smiled sadly.

"But, I only know one thing...That everyone will come, no matter how painful is those memories of losing him, the joy of other memories about him will always mend those pain and cast them away..." continued the man as he stared and raised his hand to the sky then clenched it into a fist, trying to grab the sky.

The red-haired woman surprised by the man's answer and giggled, "You're just like my brother..."

"Huh!? How could that be?"

"You always listen to people's problem, and always help them in the time of need, you reminded me of my brother,"

"I'm not even close to him...Maybe, it's because the day that I spent together with him. He is an interesting person; he tried to become a cool guy who can be depended on...but he alone couldn't face his own problem at times..." explained the man.

"You even knew my brother's nature. I wonder how close you are as a friend..."

"Nah, It's only because sometimes I accidentally met your brother when he hung out with his friend, and ended up hung out together with him and his friend who now also become mine..." said the man as he smiled weakly

"And you're the most decent amongst them..."

"What do you mean by 'them'...?" asked the man as he tilted his head

"Junpei-san and Ryoji-san, of course..."

"Well, I agree..." Shinji mused as he remembered his two idiotic friends.

"Both of them have caused my brother to be executed by Mitsuru-senpai..."

"Huh!? Wait, executed...!?" Shinji was utterly surprised by the woman's statement.

"Yeah, along with Akihiko-senpai. It's cuz they're asking them to go to the hot spring at such a weird time and it's almost the transition from boys-only to girls only..." explained the woman further.

When he listened the red-haired woman's explanation, he remembered that they had a trip to Kyushu when they were still a student. On the second day of the trip, the two mentioned idiot, Junpei and Ryoji, asked him along with Minato, and Akihiko.

"Hey, Shinji, are you up for a bath?" asked the man with a goatee, namely Junpei.

"Isn't this kind of time is unusual for a bath in an open-air hot spring?" asked Shinji back as he looked at the clock.

"Well, don't worry. It's the last day of the trip, and we almost never get a chance to have a peaceful bath, because it's always crowded, so what will you say? We should bring Akihiko-san and Minato along," explained the black-haired man, known as Ryoji.

"If you say so...But I have something to attend to, I'll catch up with you two, if you're looking for Minato and Akihiko-senpai, they're at the game room. It would not take long,"

"Okay then, see ya at the hot spring..." said Junpei as he left.

"Ciao!" Ryoji followed him.

After the two left, Shinji muttered to himself, "I have a bad feeling, better check the schedule for the open-air bath..."

After he finished the matter, and checked the schedule and confirmed it, the black-haired man proceed to the hot spring. Just before he opened the door, he heard a scream, it was Junpei's, and he could hear another voice, which belong to Mitsuru.

"A~ki~hi~ko~" Mitsuru yelled with a very venomous tone.

"M-Mitsuru, this is just a misunderstanding! This is just an accident!" Akihiko seemed to try to explain.

"SILENCE!!!" Mitsuru yelled with an angry voice.

"GYAAAH!!!" Akihiko screamed.

_'What the hell is going on!! It's like Steam and Murder!!!'_ Shinji thought silently, as he thanked God for not placing him in such a situation.

"Where are you? Come on out!! I'll execute all of you!!" Mitsuru yelled with an angry and venomous tone.

_'Mitsuru-senpai really is scary...'_

"Ladies an gentlemen!! This is the Steamed Silhouette quiz!! Which one is the true Minato-kun??" it seemed that Ryoji was disguising himself as Minato, and tried to make the 'devil' confused.

The moment became silenced before suddenly, a threatening aura overflowed from the behind the door, Shinji could feel a sudden chill on his spine, and heavy footstep came towards the door.

_'Crap!! I'm gonna die!! I have to run!!!' _Shinji thought in fear and rushed towards the exit, fortunately he didn't change his clothes and the 'devil' missed his presence.

After all the female came out from the hot spring, Shinji tried to check whether his friend is completely dead or there were any survivor, from the punishment of the cold hell, Nifleheim. Inside it, he found all his friend turned into an ice statue, with Minato and Ryoji froze inside a huge block of ice.

"What kind of punishment did you guys receive from Mitsuru-senpai..?" he asked his frozen comrade, with a combination of jaw-drop, sweat-drop, and gaping.

After remembering the nightmare, his expressions became gloomy, as he tried not to recall it further. Looking at the man's gloomy expressions, Hamuko became curious.

"Is something, wrong...?"

"Yeah, do you still remember that trip to Kyoto, right?" asked the man, still with his gloom.

"Yeah, I still remember it clearly. What's up? It seems that you remember something you shouldn't..."

"Well, actually when I'm almost get executed by Mitsuru-senpai that time..."

"How come?" Hamuko tilted her head.

Shinji breathed in and out before he told Hamuko, the story he had kept for so long. After he finished telling his story, Hamuko first reaction was...

"Omigosh! Shinji, You're pervert! You're the worst!" Hamuko gasped and squealed.

"Hey, I told you I didn't take a peek inside! I only heard the guys' screaming, and Mitsuru-senpai yelled angrily" explained the black-haired man.

"Oh...I thought you take a peek that time. _Giggle_...You're so fun to be teased..."

"Gimme a break..." the man spoke as he let out a sigh.

"Even though, I'm glad you didn't peek, cause it's a shame if you are a pervert who take his pleasure on peeking girls when they bathe..." Hamuko spoke with a teasing tone.

"I told you! I'm not! None and never!" exclaimed Shinji.

"Okay-okay, I believe you," said the woman as she giggled.

Finally after some walk, they arrived at the town cemetery. They searched every tombstone and finally they found a familiar name on one of the tombstones, on the tombstones there was a carving, which was read, Arisato Minato. Hamuko placed the flower bouquet in front of his tombstone, and prayed, as tears began to flow from her eyes. Shinji also say his praying, after sometime of silence, finally Hamuko spoke up.

"Brother, how are you today? I wish you're doing good, everyone is doing fine right now, they've been taking care of me ever since you're gone..." Hamuko spoke with a sad voice.

"Thank you, brother, for protecting me, and everyone from afar," As she finished her sentence, she began to cry and sobbed.

Shinji moved closer to the crying Hamuko, he began to comfort and hugged her, Hamuko hugged the black-haired man as she release all her sadness that had been welled up inside her. Then Shinji stared at Minato's tombstone.

'Minato, do you see now. How much suffering that had been caused by your death? Even I couldn't ease your sister sadness every time she visit your grave, and even I, the one you consider your closest friend, don't know the cause of your death...' the black-haired man thought silently as he comforted the crying Hamuko.

Suddenly a slight dizziness formed in his head, he clutched his head with one of his hand, and the dizziness became stronger as visions of Minato ascended from a huge tower, to the moon, which looked like a big crimson eye, flashed in his mind. He could hear the whispery voice from inside his head echoed clearly, the same voice that he heard early in the morning.

'**I am thou...'**

'**Thou art I...'**

'**Now open thy eyes...'**

'**And call what's within...'**

Shinji groaned, as the dizziness became stronger. Hamuko stopped her cries after she realized, that the man was utterly pained and she let go of her hug, the man slumped to the ground and he supported his position with his hand.

"Shinji-san! Are you alright!?" Hamuko gasped and tried to help the black-haired man.

As the series of visions and echoes in his head fade, his dizziness goes with them. Then he looked at the red-haired woman, who seemed worried a bout his conditions, then he stood up and patted the woman's head.

"I'm okay, just lack of rest..." the man spoke with a convincing tone as he smiled reassuringly towards the worried woman.

The woman smiled, she was relieved that there was nothing happened to the man, "Please take care of your health, it's not good to make everyone worried about you..." advised the woman as she smiled a relieved smile.

"Yeah, I'm sorry to make you worried..." apologized the man.

"If you're sorry, then treat me at Aragaki-senpai's place, okay!" asked the woman out of sudden.

"What!?" the black-haired man surprised by the woman's sudden request.

"Okay then! Next destination, Aragaki-senpai's restaurant!" squealed Hamuko energetically.

"Well, it's officially Junpei's place you know..." said the man as he let out a sigh, seeing the red-haired woman excited, as if nothing's happened.

Meanwhile not far from them a group of people observed at them intently. The group consisted of four people; one of them is a bluenette man with earphones who wore black trench coat and dark blue trouser. The other man wore a long yellow scarf, also with the same outfit with the bluenette, the rest of them were a man with blonde hair in blue uniform, and a blonde woman with bobbed haircut, also in blue uniform.

"Hamuko-san never changes, just like seven years ago, don't you agree Minato-san?" asked the blonde man to the bluenette man.

"Yeah, she is always cheerful, and smiled to everyone..." answered the bluenette as he smiled sadly.

"C'mon, Minato, Hamu-chan will be just fine, after all Shinji is protecting her..." said the man with the yellow scarf.

"And about Shinji-san, it seems that his awakening is near..." the blonde woman changed the subject, her eyes fixated to the black-haired man.

"Yes, and his awakening will be no ordinary awakening, just like you, Minato-san..." continued the blonde man in blue uniform.

"The awakening of his 'Persona', and the awakening of his 'wild card'..."

~Resolution~

Another chapter released, there's nothing much I could say about this chapter, enjoy, and don't forget to drop some review after reading.

Bhanu JH


	3. Specialized Extraculinary Edible Service

Persona: Resolution

Disclaimer: I never own Persona (3 or 4)

Chapter 3: Specialized Extraculinary Edible Service

* * *

"Hey, Minato. What will you do now?" asked the black haired with long scarf man to his bluenette friend.

"We'll stick around from distance and observe..." answered the bluenette.

"Don't we have another thing to do?"

"We'll take care of them later after I'm sure that Hamuko and the other is okay..."

"Then, what about them? They're pretty much exhausted from that fight," said the man with scarf as he gestured to the rest of their companion who looked a little bit pale

The bluenette looked at the two people in blue uniform, "Let's go, we have to visit someone," the bluenette took both them.

"What about me?" asked the man with long scarf.

"Stick with them and make sure things don't go wrong until I get back, it wont take long,"

"If you say so..." the man shrugged and turned his attention toward Shinji and Hamuko as the bluenette left, accompanied by the man and woman in blue uniform.

* * *

Shinji and Hamuko walked together to their next destination, without realizing that someone was observing them from afar. At the main gate of the cemetery, Shinji's cell phone rang, he checked the caller id, and then he picked it up.

"Hello..."

"_Hey, Shinji, could you come to my place? I need to talk about something..."_ it was Junpei, he sounded somewhat restless

"Well, I'm about to go there..."

"_Good, by any chance, does Hamu-chan with you?" _Junpei sounded relieved by the answer.

"Yeah, she's here with me, what's up Junpei? It sounds like you're in some kind of problem,"

"_Oh! U-uh...Just come to my place, okay. See ya!"_

"H-hey, wait—" before Shinji could finish his sentence the line had been cut off.

"_Sigh_...I have a bad feeling," Shinji murmured.

"Hmm...What happened?" asked Hamuko curiously.

"It's from Junpei, he wants us to come to his place,"

"Well, let's go then, you're going to treat me there anyway,"

"I never said something like that,"

"You said that you're sorry for making me worried about you, and I won't forgive you until you treat me," threatened the woman.

"_Groan_...Fine,"

"So, you're going to treat me for real!? Yay! I'm going to order a lot this time!" Hamuko cheered happily.

'_She's practically abusing me...'_ the man thought as he sighed, he felt that he had been used.

* * *

They arrived at Iwatodai district, where their destination located. In front of the building they met someone familiar, a man with white hair, Sanada Akihiko, about to enter a building with a medieval Europe 'feel'.

"Hi, Akihiko-senpai! Good morning!" greeted Hamuko cheerfully.

"Good morning. Hey, what are you two doing here?"

"We got a call from Junpei. What about you, Senpai?" Shinji asked back.

"Huh!? Me too," Akihiko surprised.

"I get a bad feeling about this,"

They opened the door, and inside they found a big stage with curtain surrounded by tables, the cafe crowded with customer, waiters and waitresses, in butler suit and maid dress respectively, walked back and forth.

_'The stage seems to be prepared for something'_ Shinji thought, before a signboard caught his eyes, it has a familiar looking silhouette which was read:

_'Special and Secret guest! Hint: She is a famous, multi-talented idol and currently on Tatsumi Port Island for show,'_

_'I really got a bad vibe about this...'_

While Shinji lost in his own thought, a red-haired woman with maid dress approached them, it was Yoshino Chidori.

"Good morning, Shinji-san, Akihiko-san. He is waiting for you," greeted the red-haired woman.

"Good morning, Chidori. Could you bring us to him?" asked Akihiko.

"Please follow me,"

They followed Chidori to a room, inside it a man with a baseball cap waited restlessly. He looked at the red-haired woman in front of him and smiled happily as he hugged her, then Chidori excuses herself and left the room. The man turned his attention towards the group.

"Finally you come, I'm so glad," said the man suddenly with teary eyes.

"Hey, Junpei, what's with you?"

"The cafe is too crowded, things getting out of our hand, and most of our employees are taking break, so.... Please help meeee!" begged Junpei, still with teary eyes.

"_Sigh_...You always lure people out of nowhere to help you," the black-haired man commented

"Okay, Count me in!"

"What!?" surprised, Shinji turned his attention towards Hamuko.

"Well, Junpei-san needs our help. So, why not?"

"Thanks Hamu-chan, you're a real lifesaver" said Junpei who had changed drastically from his previous self.

The black-haired man turned his attention back to Junpei and looked at him with cynical look, _'He have an ulterior motives, I just know it....'_

"Might as well help an old friend,"

"Akihiko-senpai! Not you too!" Shinji surprised by his senior decision.

"Okay then it's decided, 2 on 1, you gotta go whether you want it or not," said Junpei as he acted like umpire in a baseball game complete with the helmet and the vest.

"Fine...."_'He's acting like that again...'_ replied the black-haired man as he commented on Junpei's behavior mentally.

The door behind them opened, and a brunette woman entered the room, followed by a green-haired woman and a red-haired woman.

"This place sure is crowded today,"

"Hey, Yuka-tan, you're coming too!" said Junpei as his face brightened.

"Since there is a free time on my schedule, I decided to pay a visit and I bring Fuuka and Mitsuru-senpai along," the brunette as she gestured to the women behind her.

"Well, since everyone is here....Tadaaa!!! Please wear this!" Junpei pulled out a butler suit and a maid dress out of nowhere.

"W-what!? There is no way I will wear something like that!"

"I beg you, Yuka-tan! Pleaseee! Pretty pleeeaaaseee...." Junpei kneeled as he begged with his teary eyes.

"Yukari-chan, Junpei-kun needs our help, we can't just ignore it," said the green-haired woman.

"It's true Takeba, it seems that Iori really need our help. Even though, I am tempted to 'execute' him," said the chairwoman as she glared at Junpei and made him gulped.

"W-well, I'll help, but just this once!" exclaimed the brunette.

"Thank you, you're all a lifesaver," Junpei stood up.

"Don't mention it, that what friends are for anyway," said Shinji, as he patted Junpei's shoulder.

"Okay then, let's do this!" yelled Junpei as he pointed his finger forward and hold a baseball club.

'_He is acting like that.... Again...'_ Shinji thought as he sighed.

'_He always gets on my nerves...'_ Yukari thought furiously.

'_He has to stop doing that...' _Akihiko thought as he rubbed his forehead.

'_It maybe wise to 'execute' him after this is over...'_ thought the red-haired chairwoman as she placed her hand on her chin, a faint smirk formed on her face.

'_He is just like what Yukari-san said...'_ thought Hamuko as she shook her head.

'_Junpei-kun hasn't changed a bit...'_ the green-haired woman thought, a faint smile formed on her face.

Junpei turned his head towards the group who was staring at him, "What are you waiting for? C'mon change your outfit already! Go!" ordered Junpei.

* * *

They changed their outfit into butler suits and maid dresses respectively, and went back at Junpei's office, when he looked at the women who were now in maid dresses, he got excited and thrilled over the top, not before Yukari beat the crap out of him.

"Don't get too excited, Stupei. We only do this just to help you! JUST THIS ONCE!" the brunette screeched as she emphasized her last sentence.

"O....kay...." Junpei raised his trembling hand slowly with his thumb up while he still lied on the floor.

"I have a question..." asked the black haired man who was now in a butler suit.

"What?" asked Junpei back as he stood up like nothing had happened to him.

"Why my suit's color is different than Akihiko-senpai?" Shinji asked Junpei as he gestured to Akihiko who was in black butler suit while he was in the white one.

"Well, it's the only one left. So, just bear with it," replied Junpei lightly.

"You hide something don't you?" asked the black-haired man with a slight angry tone.

"C'mon, Shinji. You look good in those," praised Hamuko, she wore a short-sleeved maid dress with a big ribbon on the hip with long laces, her hair was untied, revealing her hair length, it was about her neck.

"Yeah, and it's rare to see you in bright-colored clothes, since you prefer dark-colored one and wear them every time," added Yukari.

"Look! Even the girls prefer you in those. You're a lucky man, you know,"

Shinji turned his head toward Fuuka and Mitsuru, as if he asked them telepathically. The red-haired woman nodded whereas Fuuka gave an agreeing smile.

The black-haired man let out a defeated sigh, "Oh well, it doesn't hurt to wear something different than your preference sometimes,"

Suddenly a red-haired woman in maid dress made her entrance to the room, she seemed rushed a little.

"Dear, we need some help here," said the woman, it seems that it was getting crowded while the 'backup' were getting themselves ready.

"That's your cue! Go! This place life is on your shoulder! Do your best!" ordered Junpei, half-cheered.

The group nodded in agreement and left the room to help the other employee, as Shinji about to walk out of the room he was halted by a red-haired woman, Chidori, who observed at him intently before she started to speak.

"Darling, it looks like we have our 'trump card' here," a mischievous smile formed on her face.

"Is something good have crossed in your mind, dear?" asked Junpei to his wife.

"Yes, and maybe, it's the best 'trump' I have ever met," answered the red-haired woman with a convincing tone.

'_Yeah, but my feeling said that this will be the worst idea someone has ever come up that includes me in the plan. And stop the 'darling' and 'dear' thing, it sounded too forced for me,'_ Shinji thought, as he tried to figure what his friend's wife was trying to do with him.

Junpei seemed to think about it for a few moment before he spoke, "Do anything that will save us from this situation, dear" an excited grin formed on his face.

_'What the...!? Since when you're permitted to do that to me!? I'm not even an employee here!!! Don't just told your wife to do anything to me!!!' _Shinji thought worriedly behind his calm face.

"Yes, dear. I will do my best!" the woman spoke with a cheerful tone.

_'Oh God, what kind of sins I've committed to be in this kind of situation...'_

The red-haired woman dragged the poor black-haired man out of the room and went somewhere to carry out her plan. Alone in his room Junpei smirked as he looked at his wristwatch.

"Just a little more, the show is going to be as spectacular as ever, the last piece will be here in a couple of hours. Junpei, you're one hell of a genius!" then Junpei chuckled like a twisted maniac who was about to conduct his twisted orchestra on a chaotic stage.

* * *

A bluenette man accompanied by two people in blue uniform stood on a road surrounded by thick fog, they can barely saw anything on their surrounding, but they were sure that they were standing on a paved road.

"The Velvet Room had changed a lot over the past seven years," commented the bluenette as he looked around.

"The Velvet Room changed its form depending on the current guest, it reflects their 'Journey' and the form of 'Answer' they are searching for," explained the man in blue uniform with pale blond hair.

"And this is the form of my friend's Journey, a foggy road, with no ends and no beginning,"

"Unfortunately, it is his yet not in the same time, this form is the reflection that the Velvet Room takes for the previous guest after you and before him," explained Elizabeth further.

"Hmm...So, it was his." the bluenette mused.

"And our sister had accompanied him during his 'Journey' to find the 'Truth' that he was searching,"

"You two seem to know a lot, even when you two are not present in this realm,"

"It's due to our nature as the resident of the Velvet Room. We are, in a way or another, linked to this realm, and we are able to recover any event that happened inside, by simply entering this realm," said Theodore as he gave another explanation to the bluenette.

"How convenient," the bluenette froze for a moment and recalled some words, "You said that you two have another sister, right?" asked the bluenette.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"I've been wondering, how many, exactly, is your sibling?" asked the bluenette curiously.

"About one thousand," Elizabeth answered lightly.

The bluenette shocked by the answer and projected the answer in his head while repeated the answer mentally, _'A thousand Elizabeth and Theodore...?'_ His mind filled with horror as he tried to project it in his mind, his version of Velvet Room, filled with one thousand exact copies of Elizabeth and Theodore.

"Of course, it was a joke, Minato-san. There is only another one beside me and Elizabeth," Theodore spoke as he chuckled.

When he heard Theodore, the bluenette quickly recovered and turned his head towards Elizabeth, who was giggling as she saw the bluenette expressions when he tried to project her answer in his head.

_'That's not a good joke...'_ thought Minato, the bluenette.

In the midst of their conversations a soft sound could be heard, Minato tried to search the source of the sound until he saw a pair of glowing light. As the lights moved slowly towards his direction, a faint image of limousine could be seen.

"What is that?" asked Minato as he looked at the seemingly limousine object.

"It looks like that our ride is about to arrive," replied Theodore as he looked at the same direction as Minato.

_'Ride!?'_ Minato thought.

The limousine stopped in front of them, the door slowly opened.

"Shall we?" prompted Elizabeth.

_'Does this limousine could contain this many people...?'_ Minato thought doubtfully as he entered the limousine via the door that had just opened along with Elizabeth whilst Theodore took the front door.

_'The room inside is more spacious than I thought,'_ Minato commented in his thought as looked around.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," greeted a familiar figure with salient eyeball and long nose, accompanied by a longhaired blond woman in blue uniform. When he looked at his guest, he looked a little surprised.

"Hi, Igor. Long time no see," Minato simply replied.

Margaret who sat not far from Igor looked at the woman who accompanied Minato. She was utterly surprised by the fact that the woman was Elizabeth, her sister who had gone on a 'Journey' to free a 'soul' that slumbered at the end of the world as she stated before she departed. Without realizing it, tears began to flow from her yellowish eye, as happiness filled her heart, seeing her sister who she had longed for, came back from her 'Journey' to find the meaning of her life.

"S-sister..." Margaret spoke as she stood up and walked closer to Elizabeth

"I'm home," Elizabeth replied as she gave an apologetic yet warm smile to her sister.

Margaret proceeded to give Elizabeth, her beloved sister, a warm, welcoming hug, which is unusual for Margaret to be this emotional, and Elizabeth was wondering how her sister was drastically changed over the past seven years.

"Sister, please stop crying," Elizabeth tried to comfort Margaret.

Margaret let go of her hug, "Where is Theodore?" asking their youngest sibling presence.

The window behind Igor was slowly opened, followed by a familiar male voice, "I'm here," Theodore waved his hand from the window.

Margaret looked happy when she saw both her siblings came back from their 'Journey', before they could celebrate further Igor interjected with his word.

"We should save the celebrations for later, Margaret,"

When she heard Igor's words, Margaret gave a nod and tried to regain her composure as she sat beside her sister Elizabeth, whereas Minato, who became the spectator of the drama, sat on a couch across Igor's.

"And so, we meet again," Igor spoke with his usual smug grin.

"Can we skip the formal part, please?" requested Minato.

"Oh, dear. It seems that you are in such a hurry. Well then, what do you demand me to answer, young man?" asked Igor.

"Did you summon a particular someone lately?"

"If what you mean by 'summon' is that someone had came to this place, then, yes it is," answered the long-nosed man with an enigmatic voice.

"Does that person come with his own will?" asked the bluenette,

"Yes, he is a unique and very interesting young man. Unlike you and the other, he came to this place un-summoned, and his 'Journey' is the most interesting part, as well as his destiny," explained the long-nosed man, giving the bluenette another mystery.

"Can you tell me what kind of destiny does he have?" asked the bluenette as curiosity revolved in his mind.

"Unfortunately, I can't. This is a secret between me and my guest," answered the long-nosed man with another enigmatic voice.

The bluenette sighed and looked disappointed, "Well, not that I hope I could know it. Did you summon Hamuko lately?"

"Not yet, but eventually, I will, her destiny will require her to be summoned once again to this place,"

"It's better for her not to get involved again in this matter," said Minato as he lowered his gaze, his expression is somewhat sad.

As he raised his gaze, the bluenette noticed that someone had stared at him for a while, which he thought to be his friend's guide. But he soon realized that she wore different outfit than the three siblings, indicating that she wasn't filling that role, before he could speak the woman with black hair gasped.

"You're the man that chained in that gate,"

_'How could she know!?'_ Minato thought as he proceeded to ask the woman, "Did we ever meet before?"

"My sister fought that hideous monster back at that place to save you from your destiny, remember?" asked the woman as tried to make the bluenette remember.

Minato tried to recall his past memories, he could only remember Elizabeth and Theodore struggled to get him out, before suddenly, one memory came into the surface, a memory of his friend fighting a creature from the darkness he tried to seal, to prevent humanity from reaching its end, and a memory about someone he hold dear.

"So, you are Aigis' 'sister',"

"Yup, that's right," replied the woman cheerfully.

"But back then, weren't you supposed to be a gynoid?" asked Minato as he looked at the woman's appearance that was more humane.

"Yeah, I'm even surprised myself when I take a complete human form,"

The bluenette turned his head toward the long-nosed man, as if asking him telepathically, prompted him to answer the question inside the bluenette's head.

"_Chuckle_.... This is also the 'power' of our current guest," answered Igor, leaving a faint hint.

"Hmph, looks like he is an interesting person with an intriguing destiny," said the bluenette, using Igor's trademark words.

"Well, are you satisfied with the information in your current possession?" asked Igor with his usual smug grin.

The bluenette nodded, "Yes, that should be enough, for now,"

"Well then, 'til we meet again,"

* * *

The restaurant got more crowded that there were famous people gathered in that place as the customers wondered, how could these people be in this place and on top of that, as waiters and waitresses with butler suits and maid dresses. Some of the customer began to whisper each other discussing the possible reason for them to be in this place.

"May I have your order?" asked Yukari to the one of the customer.

"Can we take a picture together?" asked a female customer.

"Sure,"

Not far from them a group male customers whispered at each other, discussing the appearance of many famous people at once in one place.

"She is really Takeba Yukari. Wow, look at that she's so cute with that clothes," a brunette man whispered to one of his friend.

"Takeba Yukari, a famous female archer, her pictures were on the sport magazines for a few weeks, it is also rumored that she will become a model once she retired from archery, her achievement and carrier in archery is rocketing due to her unfathomable accuracy," explained a bespectacled man with black hair.

"Wow, and that's Kirijo Mitsuru, why is she in a place like this?" a man with spiky hair whispered.

"Kirijo Mitsuru, the chairwoman of the Kirijo group, which originated from the Nanjo group, famous for its world-wide branch in every aspect of life. It is rumored that she has a Frenchman fiancée, but it is still unknown whether they had married or not," the bespectacled man from before gave another brief explanation to his friend.

"Isn't that Sanada Akihiko?" asked the brunette man.

"Sanada Akihiko, a famous police officer, due to his 'cool' personality, a former boxing champion. He plays some major part on some big cases along with the Detective 'Prince', and the 'Knight' Detective," explained the bespectacled man.

"Dude, you sure know a lot, do you? And who's the girl with Mitsuru there?" asked the spiky haired man.

"Yamagishi Fuuka, very intelligent and skilled doctor, born within an all doctor family. She worked at Tatsumi Memorial Hospital, a Kirijo-run hospital, she is very skilled and she found a certain method to treat, or even cure some illness that is still has unknown antidote for the disease,"

"Are you an informant or something?"

"Not particularly, just a guy who love to memorize things,"

"That sounds kinda pervy,"

Yukari accidentally heard the conversation, as she walked to the kitchen to give the order, inside the kitchen, a man with semi-long black hair had been busy, as well as other chef, preparing the order.

"Senpai, here's another one," said the brunette as she handed a piece of paper.

"_Sigh_...This place keeps getting more and more crowded,"

"Just blame Stupei for this, he's the one who invited us,"

"Maybe I should ask more for my paycheck,"

The door behind the opened, a white haired man entered, followed by the rest of the group. Each of them carried a piece of paper, containing foods and drinks order.

"_Sigh_...This place is so crowded," said Hamuko, she seemed a little tired.

"And the customer requesting an autograph as well as taking picture with us," commented the red-haired chairwoman.

"And the good point is, they ordered something more expensive than the usual one, this mean we will get our paycheck too for working," the-white haired man spoke with a grin.

Fuuka noticed something had been missing, a certain someone that was supposed to be with them, had gone. She didn't notice it before, because she and the other was too busy.

"Everyone, did you know where is Shinji-san?" asked the green haired woman, concerned about the man in question.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him anywhere," said Yukari as she tried to remember.

"Yeah, on top of that he wore a distinctive color, so he can be easily spotted," said Akihiko.

"Or maybe, he had ran away due to the fact that he was scared to show up in that costume,"

The kitchen was suddenly filled with heavy atmosphere and awkward silence, when the group heard Shinjiro's comment. They turned their head toward the man, sweat dropped, with disbelief written all over their face.

Looking at the group's faces, Shinjiro could only say, "What?"

Suddenly a loud voice could be heard from outside the kitchen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we present you the secret guest, as you may wonder, we got another famous guest, since you had seen there are famous people gathered in this place, we shall add another person to complete the missing pieces," Junpei announced something from the stage.

Hearing this, the group got a really bad feeling, about the person in question.

"He is a famous detective, with his handsome face, he charms any girl around him, with his intellect he bust any crime and cling triumphantly. He, along with the famous Detective 'Prince', becomes an unbeatable duo with combined intellect and charm. Without any prolonged introduction, please welcome, the 'Knight' Detective!!!" Junpei cheered.

A few moments later, cheering and squealing could be heard, filled the whole building with tremble, as if the building would collapse because of the cheering. The group sweat dropped, and they felt sorry for a certain black-haired man who faced a terrible fate, and Shinjiro is the only one commented about him.

"Well, sucks to be him,"

"Yeah,"

* * *

Hello people, long time no see. Sorry for the long update, it took me quite a while to plan and, well the other stuff too. In the process of writing, I'm somewhat dispirited, so the jokes would be the lame one. Margaret finally reunited with her sibling, whereas SEES member (Aigis, Ken, and Koromaru excluded) become butlers and maids, because of Junpei's diabolical plan. And it looks like I got some review, Horray!!!

ShadowLucas15: Thanks for the compliment, I think I'll put Minato on the sideways in the few next chapter.

DemonRaily: Well, thanks to you, I'm able to start something new. At first I'm a little confused for what I have to do, so I take a tour on Megami Tensei wikia, and an idea just popped out. Actually I tried not to pair Minato, Souji, and my OC with someone in particular, where in later chapter there will be a scene for it.

Anyway I want to thank Dragon's Shadow, because your fic kinda inspire me. Well readers, please drop your review after reading, questions, compliment, criticism, sarcasm, sardonism, flames, stones, rubbish, electronic, cell phone, car, plane, house, etc. (what kind of nonsense I'm talking about!?) or whatever that comes in your mind, just write it, and sorry to put the reply in the end of the fic.

Bhanu JH


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